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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

While working full time, I often daydreamed about the amount of time I would have to focus on running when I became a stay at home mom. Running has always been apart of my life. I briefly ran cross-country in high school, ran many 5ks and 3 half-marathons. However, since staying at home, trying to find time to run has been a definite struggle. The balancing act has not been the easiest. Why you ask? Because there have been more things that have claimed my attention. Thus, the half-marathon I had planned running in this month, sadly I was not prepared for.

Now I am trying to squeeze it back in my busy life because I really miss it and it makes me happy. So for starters, I'm trying to get back to the running condition I was pre-baby. Last week, I wrote out a plan and was ready to go. However, my first run made me realize I have some muscular imbalance that needs attention before I up my miles so I don't sideline myself early in the training. As with all things, I need patience. This is a marathon, not a sprint... Literally...

Areas that need my attention are my quadriceps for the sake of my knees and all my core muscles. My knees have always been a problem every since I played soccer in high school. After an MRI done on my left knee 5 years ago revealed worn cartilage, my doctor told me if I was to continue running to use shoes that had excellent support and shock absorption. I found the Nike Structure Triax to be the best fit and have since gone through 4 generations of them before getting pregnant with my son. Following my pregnancy I had shoes that were worn, especially since most of the miles where due to trying to walk my boy out of the womb. So during my little brother's visit, we went to Luke's Locker and bought my glorious Nike's! He bought some too - Nike Pegasus. Great shoes, I might add!!

As much as I would love to run out the door and do my previous routine, pre-baby, I need to set goals so I avoid injury. So my goal for the next month is to increase my sessions from an occasional run to 3-5 times per week whether it be running, cycling, elliptical (which I've never done before but need to add to my regimen) or swimming (my favorite!!). Keeping up with my strength training, but adding Pilates and mucho stretching! Monthly I will update you on my training and in time I will be back to running full speed. You are now my witnesses!!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

It's Thanksgiving time and what better time to spend it with family eating all kinds of food! This time last year I hosted Thanksgiving in our tiny apartment with a giant tummy extending out as I was 6 months pregnant. My parents came into town and I had a great time talking and cooking with my mom, watching football with my dad, and hanging out eating with my hubby and daughter. It was very peaceful!

This year we are having Thanksgiving dinner in our beautiful new home! My mother-and father-in-law are already here and my beloved brother is en route. I had pulled out my recipes I did last year and tossed the ones I didn't care for and now trying new ones.

Everyone has a job. My husband has to work at the hospital, total bummer for us but really good for the sick children needing diagnostic imaging done. My brother is in charge of the turkey. My mother-in-law is in charge of the ham, cheesecake, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and green bean casserole. I'm in charge of mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, sweet potato casserole, broccoli rice casserole, corn casserole, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. My daughter is to keep papa lathered up with hand sanitizer so nobody catches his cold. My son is to try new textures of food. Our dog is to clean up the scraps. Whew!!

We have many things to be thankful for and our health is a big one! My father-in-law is in remission from non-small cell lung cancer! Now he's been in remission for some time now and how blessed are we that it's gone and get to share an awesome meal with him! We are also thankful for our salvation in our Lord and Savior!! Sure there are crumby things in the world that can get us down but what if we focused on what we have instead of what we don't have. How much different would you feel? and how much happier would you be??

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Staying at home has kept me busy doing what moms do such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc... However, something I never thought I would be doing is making my own household cleaners! Now, don't get me wrong. I do enjoy the convenience of buying the items myself from the store but once my friend told me of how easy it was to make my own laundry detergent, I was on fire! I explored every cleaner I could.

I've made laundry detergent from scratch! A lot of it! Ten gallons to be exact! The recipe I used was from the Dugger's website: (http://duggarsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/duggar-recipe-liquid-laundry-soap.html?m=1. The only issue I have is there is NO smell after the clothes have been cleaned which I prefer to have. However, I spent $10 on raw material and it will last me for 2-3 yrs! I think that's pretty cost effective.

Then I've made fabric softener. I've used several recipes and think the current one is pretty good. You can find the recipe here: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/homemade-fabric-softener.htm. I added probably 20 drops of lemon essential oil and it leaves a subtle smell that's not too strong. I even saw a person using aluminum foil balls to reduce static on clothes. I have not tried that but am interested to see if it works.

The next cleaner I made was originally supposed to be just bathroom cleaner but since it works so well it is now an all purpose cleaner that I can use when my kids are around. My sister- and mother-in-law told me about it. It is just equal parts of Dawn soap and white vinegar! Spray, let sit a bit, scrub a little, and rinse. It's smells like pickles but it goes away after a while.

My most recent struggle is dishwasher detergent. I've tried a few recipes and cloudy dishes have caused me much irritation. The recent one I'm using is definitely better but my Pyrex measuring cups still remain cloudy while the other dishes are squeaky clean. I owe the positive change to Lemi Shine. You can find the recipe here: http://simplydesigning.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-water-stains-dishwasher-detergent.html?m=1.

You're probably wondering why I'm doing this. Well, it's because I'm trying to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals my little ones are exposed to. Sure I can't reduce all of them but if I can just reduce a few then I'll be happy.